The manager of Liverpool football club, Bill Shankly, is retiring from his post.

Shankly, 58, has been in charge at Anfield for nearly 15 years.

He made the decision to leave five weeks ago, but club directors have been trying to persuade him to stay.

Shankly explained that he was starting to feel the strain after so long in the job and that he had to take his family into consideration.

"The pressures have built up so much during my 40 years in the game that I felt it was time to have a rest," he said.

I felt it was time to have a rest

Bill Shankly

Since joining the club in 1959 Shankly has taken Liverpool into the first division where the team won the championship in 1964, 1966 and 1973, the FA Cup in 1965 and this year and the UEFA Cup in 1973.

Club chairman John Smith has said that his retiring manager is happy to offer the team "the benefit of his experience", but he doesn't want to undermine his successor.

The son of a Lanarkshire miner, Shankly rose to fame as a winger with Carlisle and Preston before beginning his management career back at Carlisle followed by stints at Grimsby, Workington and Huddersfield.

He is widely respected throughout the game for his socialist principles and sharp wit.